Bill Text: MN SF2972 | 2013-2014 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Resolution expressing concern for the worldwide growth in the persecution of Christians
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-28 - Referred to Rules and Administration [SF2972 Detail]
Download: Minnesota-2013-SF2972-Introduced.html
1.1A resolution
1.2expressing concern for the worldwide growth in the persecution of Christians.
1.3WHEREAS, the United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee
1.4recently held a hearing highlighting what author John Allen has referred to as a "global war" on
1.5Christians; and
1.6WHEREAS, studies indicate that Christians are killed every day for their faith, including a
1.7study by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
1.8estimating that at least 100,000 Christians were killed in the 21st century and another estimate by
1.9Thomas Schirrmacher of the World Evangelical Alliance estimating that 20 Christians per day or
1.107,300 per year are killed for their faith; and
1.11WHEREAS, while it is difficult to estimate the actual number of Christians killed for their
1.12faith, social harassment of Christians by country is more clearly calculated and, according to
1.13research by the Pew Research Center, reached a six-year high in 2012; and
1.14WHEREAS, despite Christians accounting for approximately one-third of the world's
1.15population, the Pew Research Center reports that they face persecution in 151 countries - more
1.16countries than any other group; and
1.17WHEREAS, according to the United States Commission on International Religious
1.18Freedom, Christians are the only group at risk in each of the 16 worst countries for religious
1.19persecution; and
2.1WHEREAS, government restrictions and social hostility toward Christians is highest in
2.2countries where they are not in the majority, causing Christians to be treated as second-class
2.3citizens and face indiscriminate violence with impunity; and
2.4WHEREAS, government restrictions affecting Christian communities worldwide include
2.5government control over which religions are permitted through regulations on registration
2.6of religious communities, recognition on national identity cards, public expression of beliefs
2.7through blasphemy and apostasy or anti-conversion and proselytism laws, and the harassment or
2.8discrimination of groups whose beliefs it will not tolerate; and
2.9WHEREAS, historic Christian communities throughout the Middle East - Syriac, Coptic,
2.10Assyrian, Chaldean, and more - have been decimated by recent violence and their populations
2.11greatly reduced as they are forced to flee their homeland or face terrorist attacks, kidnappings,
2.12forced conversion, destruction of their churches and homes, rape, trafficking, indiscriminate
2.13violence, official discrimination, and failure of government protection; and
2.14WHEREAS, in Saudi Arabia, where religious freedom is nonexistent and leaving Islam
2.15is punishable by death, families' members nearly always execute converts to Christianity, and
2.16non-Muslim worship is banned; and
2.17WHEREAS, in Burma, government militias routinely target and attack Christian villages,
2.18raping the women to ethnically cleanse the non-Burmese population of Christians, sending men
2.19into forced labor, and destroying homes and crops so villagers can't return; and
2.20WHEREAS, in China, the government continues to regulate religious activity through the
2.21government sanctioned and controlled official Three Self Churches, with Christians attending
2.22unregistered churches facing constant harassment and fines, imprisonment, and forced labor
2.23in re-education camps; and
2.24WHEREAS, in North Korea, once home to the "Church of the East," an estimated 300,000
2.25Christians have disappeared since the mid-20th century, while thousands of Christians are
2.26currently imprisoned in labor camps, facing torture and death along with their families to the
2.27third generation; and
2.28WHEREAS, in Egypt, since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Christian
2.29communities, which account for nine percent of the population and are the largest Christian
2.30community in the Middle East, have faced the worst persecution seen in the country's history,
2.31with thousands of Christians murdered and hundreds of churches attacked and destroyed amidst
2.32lawlessness and political turmoil; and
3.1WHEREAS, in India, Christians in Odisha State experienced one of the most violent attacks
3.2against a religious community of the 21st century in 2008, when Hindu mobs attacked Christians
3.3in their villages, forcing 50,000 people out of their homes, killing 120, and destroying thousands
3.4of homes, churches, and schools; the subsequent lack of justice has led to further attacks in other
3.5states and created a climate of fear and insecurity among Christians throughout the country; and
3.6WHEREAS, in Russia, the government has used a 2012 law on unauthorized public
3.7meetings to permit the destruction of churches, and routinely denies Christians registration; and
3.8WHEREAS, in Sudan, government forces in the Nuba Mountains have destroyed churches
3.9and one Bible college, with attacks on Christians throughout Khartoum intensifying since the
3.10secession of South Sudan in mid-2011, whereby many Christians have faced charges of espionage
3.11and been stripped of citizenship and forced to flee the country, and have been imprisoned and
3.12tortured; and
3.13WHEREAS, in Pakistan, blasphemy laws foster an atmosphere of violent extremism and
3.14vigilante violence against Christians, including the conviction of Asia Bibi to death for blasphemy,
3.15for which she has been imprisoned for five years, and the destruction of entire Christian villages
3.16in 2009 and 2013, among numerous other attacks by the Taliban and other social actors; and
3.17WHEREAS, religious freedom is one of the most fundamental human rights to be secured
3.18for all people everywhere, and as such was prioritized by the United States Congress under
3.19the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998, which established the office of an
3.20Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom; and
3.21WHEREAS, the Ambassador-at-Large post has remained vacant since October 2013,
3.22and the President has not issued any recommendations for Countries of Particular Concern as
3.23required by IRFA since August 2011; and
3.24WHEREAS, religious freedom is recognized under Article 18 of the United Nations
3.25Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of
3.26thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief,
3.27and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his
3.28religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance"; NOW, THEREFORE,
3.29BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it:
3.30(1) recognizes the increasing persecution of Christians worldwide;
3.31(2) calls for the immediate appointment of an Ambassador-at-Large for International
3.32Religious Freedom by the President and Secretary of State;
4.1(3) calls on the Governor to include education about religious freedom in state educational
4.2curriculum; and
4.3(4) urges the President to make the promotion of religious freedom a priority in all foreign
4.4policy.
4.5BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
4.6directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
4.7States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk
4.8of the United States House of Representatives, the Governor, and Minnesota's Senators and
4.9Representatives in Congress.
1.2expressing concern for the worldwide growth in the persecution of Christians.
1.3WHEREAS, the United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee
1.4recently held a hearing highlighting what author John Allen has referred to as a "global war" on
1.5Christians; and
1.6WHEREAS, studies indicate that Christians are killed every day for their faith, including a
1.7study by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
1.8estimating that at least 100,000 Christians were killed in the 21st century and another estimate by
1.9Thomas Schirrmacher of the World Evangelical Alliance estimating that 20 Christians per day or
1.107,300 per year are killed for their faith; and
1.11WHEREAS, while it is difficult to estimate the actual number of Christians killed for their
1.12faith, social harassment of Christians by country is more clearly calculated and, according to
1.13research by the Pew Research Center, reached a six-year high in 2012; and
1.14WHEREAS, despite Christians accounting for approximately one-third of the world's
1.15population, the Pew Research Center reports that they face persecution in 151 countries - more
1.16countries than any other group; and
1.17WHEREAS, according to the United States Commission on International Religious
1.18Freedom, Christians are the only group at risk in each of the 16 worst countries for religious
1.19persecution; and
2.1WHEREAS, government restrictions and social hostility toward Christians is highest in
2.2countries where they are not in the majority, causing Christians to be treated as second-class
2.3citizens and face indiscriminate violence with impunity; and
2.4WHEREAS, government restrictions affecting Christian communities worldwide include
2.5government control over which religions are permitted through regulations on registration
2.6of religious communities, recognition on national identity cards, public expression of beliefs
2.7through blasphemy and apostasy or anti-conversion and proselytism laws, and the harassment or
2.8discrimination of groups whose beliefs it will not tolerate; and
2.9WHEREAS, historic Christian communities throughout the Middle East - Syriac, Coptic,
2.10Assyrian, Chaldean, and more - have been decimated by recent violence and their populations
2.11greatly reduced as they are forced to flee their homeland or face terrorist attacks, kidnappings,
2.12forced conversion, destruction of their churches and homes, rape, trafficking, indiscriminate
2.13violence, official discrimination, and failure of government protection; and
2.14WHEREAS, in Saudi Arabia, where religious freedom is nonexistent and leaving Islam
2.15is punishable by death, families' members nearly always execute converts to Christianity, and
2.16non-Muslim worship is banned; and
2.17WHEREAS, in Burma, government militias routinely target and attack Christian villages,
2.18raping the women to ethnically cleanse the non-Burmese population of Christians, sending men
2.19into forced labor, and destroying homes and crops so villagers can't return; and
2.20WHEREAS, in China, the government continues to regulate religious activity through the
2.21government sanctioned and controlled official Three Self Churches, with Christians attending
2.22unregistered churches facing constant harassment and fines, imprisonment, and forced labor
2.23in re-education camps; and
2.24WHEREAS, in North Korea, once home to the "Church of the East," an estimated 300,000
2.25Christians have disappeared since the mid-20th century, while thousands of Christians are
2.26currently imprisoned in labor camps, facing torture and death along with their families to the
2.27third generation; and
2.28WHEREAS, in Egypt, since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Christian
2.29communities, which account for nine percent of the population and are the largest Christian
2.30community in the Middle East, have faced the worst persecution seen in the country's history,
2.31with thousands of Christians murdered and hundreds of churches attacked and destroyed amidst
2.32lawlessness and political turmoil; and
3.1WHEREAS, in India, Christians in Odisha State experienced one of the most violent attacks
3.2against a religious community of the 21st century in 2008, when Hindu mobs attacked Christians
3.3in their villages, forcing 50,000 people out of their homes, killing 120, and destroying thousands
3.4of homes, churches, and schools; the subsequent lack of justice has led to further attacks in other
3.5states and created a climate of fear and insecurity among Christians throughout the country; and
3.6WHEREAS, in Russia, the government has used a 2012 law on unauthorized public
3.7meetings to permit the destruction of churches, and routinely denies Christians registration; and
3.8WHEREAS, in Sudan, government forces in the Nuba Mountains have destroyed churches
3.9and one Bible college, with attacks on Christians throughout Khartoum intensifying since the
3.10secession of South Sudan in mid-2011, whereby many Christians have faced charges of espionage
3.11and been stripped of citizenship and forced to flee the country, and have been imprisoned and
3.12tortured; and
3.13WHEREAS, in Pakistan, blasphemy laws foster an atmosphere of violent extremism and
3.14vigilante violence against Christians, including the conviction of Asia Bibi to death for blasphemy,
3.15for which she has been imprisoned for five years, and the destruction of entire Christian villages
3.16in 2009 and 2013, among numerous other attacks by the Taliban and other social actors; and
3.17WHEREAS, religious freedom is one of the most fundamental human rights to be secured
3.18for all people everywhere, and as such was prioritized by the United States Congress under
3.19the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998, which established the office of an
3.20Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom; and
3.21WHEREAS, the Ambassador-at-Large post has remained vacant since October 2013,
3.22and the President has not issued any recommendations for Countries of Particular Concern as
3.23required by IRFA since August 2011; and
3.24WHEREAS, religious freedom is recognized under Article 18 of the United Nations
3.25Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of
3.26thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief,
3.27and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his
3.28religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance"; NOW, THEREFORE,
3.29BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it:
3.30(1) recognizes the increasing persecution of Christians worldwide;
3.31(2) calls for the immediate appointment of an Ambassador-at-Large for International
3.32Religious Freedom by the President and Secretary of State;
4.1(3) calls on the Governor to include education about religious freedom in state educational
4.2curriculum; and
4.3(4) urges the President to make the promotion of religious freedom a priority in all foreign
4.4policy.
4.5BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
4.6directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
4.7States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk
4.8of the United States House of Representatives, the Governor, and Minnesota's Senators and
4.9Representatives in Congress.
